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Friday, February 19, 2010

7 Quick Takes Friday, #51




1. If you haven't noticed yet, it's February. And you know what that means, right?

February means I am beyond ready for spring to get here. I've been holding in my desire to defame and badmouth February for the past two weeks, and it's getting the best of me. I don't want to let it all rip though, for fear of frightening you with my ferocity, so I'll just mention a few things about this month that are wearing me out.



2. First, the dry air, and not even what it does to my hair and nostrils, which is substantial enough. I'm talking about the dry air's effect on my hands. They're so unbelievably dry that I've removed all rings but my thin wedding band in order to better apply lotion several times a day. Even with all that lotion (I'm on my third bottle this winter!) my hands are still too dry, and for that I blame February. With such dry hands, I've endured countless paper cuts this winter and February has only made it harder to maintain my cool when a cut happens. The dry skin would be bad enough, but....



3. Second (and perhaps more importantly), is the lack of color in the world. Barring an infrequent bright blue sky, the color in my part of the world has been sucked out by February's dreary weather. Oh, spring. Oh, color. Come back to us now, I beg of you!

OK. I'm done griping for now. As you were.



4. Wait, scratch that. There's one more gripe. Justin has been busier than usual this week and I've barely seen him. I know it's good that at least we get to sleep under the same roof and give quick hugs in passing, but not having him here any evenings for help with the girls or to simply catch up on each other's day has been maddening. He's only gotten home before 10 o'clock one night this week, and it's felt...lonely around here. I think a date night is in order, stat.



5. If I have my way about making a date night happen, I know exactly what we'll do. The same thing we did on our last date night: head to the movie theater, buy outrageously priced tickets, slap on a pair of goofy 3D glasses, and watch Avatar.

When we were trying to decide what to see last time, I really didn't want to go to Avatar. There were at least 4 other movies I would have chosen first, but their times didn't match up with when we could go to the theater. I may have pouted a bit when we decided Avatar was the only available movie for us; I was not interested in a movie that was being hailed as a technological masterpiece but had been criticized for having an underdeveloped plot. Plot and I? We go hand in hand. I need plot. What I don't need is technology which makes me wear silly goggles in order to be made car-sick and dizzy and disoriented.

Maybe because my expectations were so low, or maybe because I am a movie-lover at heart...I can't really explain what happened when we got into the movie, other than to say I LOVED it. It drew me in and made my heart race and made me laugh and made me almost cry happy tears. It was beautiful. I was a little sad when it ended and we walked out into a world (a FEBRUARY world, at that) with no glow-in-the dark plant life. I wanted more, immediately. The 3D aspect was subtle and unobtrusive, not like things were jumping out at us, but like we were being drawn into that world. Like live theater, maybe, if you were on stage while the play was being enacted.

The story I was so afraid would be shallow and lacking was anything but, from my perspective. If it was shallow, it was deep enough for me. If it was lacking, it was full enough for me. I loved every minute of Avatar. Keep in mind that I like movies like Lord of the Rings and Star Trek, but I also like Pride & Prejudice, Dirty Dancing, Atonement.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would search for piles of lost coins in order to pay the hefty ticket price again. Avatar would be my pick for date night, hands down.

(Wow, I really can go on about a movie, huh?)




6. Yesterday Mia hauled her plastic, primary-colored, alphabet-naming, toy laptop onto the kitchen table, and told Lauren that it was her BLOG.



7. Those infrequently bright blue-skyed days of February? We were blessed with one yesterday, and took full advantage of it to play outside.




I hope your weekend will include lots of playing outside, and a visit to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

18 comments:

  1. ugh I am so with you on the dry air! Its awful.

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  2. Oh boy! #6 sure made me smile!!

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  3. I'll admit to being a tech geek about films (partly because my husband is!) but I really need a good plot too, or all I do is pick at every little flaw. I really loved Avatar. The story was very compelling and I think James Cameron is an amazing storyteller, but not such a great writer. I mean, Titanic was FULL of cheesy lines, so I was pleasantly surprised that the writing was so much better. I actually thought he must have had a co-writer because it was so much better.

    great quick takes!

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  4. So Avatar was good? I was feeling like you about it, but thanks to your rave reviews maybe (just maybe) I'll consider renting it when it comes out on video.

    And I love that Mia called her plastic computer her blog!!

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  5. Kim - Let's take a trip to the coast together, shall we? Ah, moisture. We'd soak it right up.

    Chelsea - Don't worry; I'm sure your little one will be born knowing the blog lingo. Blingo? See...even I don't know it yet.

    Beyondhomemaking - 'I saw the iceberg, and I can see it in your eyes, too.' Blech. Yes, Avatar was a million times better. And that's coming from the lady who, as a teenager, saw Titanic about 6 times in the theater. I was THISCLOSE to having the thing memorized. To say I loved it is an understatement. So to say I loved Avatar? Is a far greater understatement :)

    Elizabeth - If I come to PA, and pay for your ticket to see it in 3D, will you go? Because the 3D is worth it, I thought. Unobtrusive, not wacky, just super lovely. And you won't get that at home! (I don't think...will it be 3D on home video??)

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  6. I'm so glad Mia's starting a blog! When she gets it all up and running, you'll have to send me the address! ;)

    As for Avatar, I'm glad to hear you liked it. That makes you and Chris both. Maybe one of these days I'll get to see it too.

    Oh, and that last little collection of pictures is amazing! How did you do that?

    (I want to say something comforting about your February blues, but I don't know what to write. Perhaps a trip to Sicily is in order? With Chris out of town, I've got plenty of room!)

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  7. Fellow February-hater here. My hands are also so dry that I'm afraid they'll never recover this time. I've never seen them this bad, even though I'm constantly slathering on lotion! My girls keep asking me why I have "owies" on my hands and if it hurts when my hands crack. Yes. Yes, it does.

    You now have me sold on Avatar. I didn't want to see it simply because I had heard there wasn't much plot either. I need plot. But thanks to you, I hope to soon be splurging on tickets to see it too!

    Oh, and I got just a *little* (okay, so VERY) jealous when I saw the pics of your girls playing outside with sweatshirts on and no snow on the ground. I'm moving.

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  8. Emily - A trip to Sicily is MOST DEFINITELY in order. Now if 'order' and 'cheap' would align themselves, we'd have a deal. My pictures were put together on Picnik.com. Have I told you about that place before? I love it there. I'm usually too busy to mess with it, but when I do, I always have so much fun. It's like photoshop, but free and simple. As bad of a photographer as I am, I should use it more often :/

    Katie - Move here! We'll go on a double Avatar date ;)

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  9. Katie is NOT allowed to move away ;) Sidenote, there.

    So funny what kids pick up on....her blog--how sweet :)
    We've gone out on several "dates" lately....but not felt very date-ish...if that makes sense. Must remedy :)
    Hope you get your date night and have a great weekend!

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  10. Alright, Miss Dry Hands- I have the same problem, and the best lotion I've found so far is, Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream. It comes in a little tube, not a huge bottle, but it works really well. For me, at least. If you haven't yet, give it a try. And I totally agree with you about February- where's that nice little island retreat I've been meaning to buy?

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  11. It must be the week! I've been missing a husband, too!
    As I write this, it is snowing so hard outside, all I can see is white. My heart says gray...ug! Please come spring!

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  12. Yeah, I'm ready for Spring too-today was especially dry, bleh! I love that Mia has a blog! So what did you do-did you get a new camera, did you learn some insider secrets? I remember you saying how awful your pictures were and the ones you've posted lately look professional-I've got camera envy.

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  13. Bring on SPRING!!
    (that's all I have to say...)

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  14. Baby Factory Katie - Are you threatening me?! J/K girl, j/k :) But you could come too and it'd be even more fun...

    HRH Sarah - Sigh. I guess I'll get some Neutrogena. My husband's always trying to sell me on it instead of the deliciously girly smelling stuff I like...but if Her Royal Highness approves...I suppose it may be truth. But I'll tell hime YOU told me so, not him :)

    Katie - You're making me so happy right now! My camera is still the same, the changes were these: 1)playing outside - I can only take a good picture with my cheap camera in natural light. Indoors, I'm awful. And 2) I made that cute little collage on Picnik. Like I told Emily above, it's like photoshop, but free and simple. Try it!

    Corinne - I think we were commenting on each other's blogs ate the same time :) Is there a name for that? Bloggeruption? Commenticity?

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  15. Baby Factory Katie - Are you threatening me?! J/K girl, j/k :) But you could come too and it'd be even more fun...

    HRH Sarah - Sigh. I guess I'll get some Neutrogena. My husband's always trying to sell me on it instead of the deliciously girly smelling stuff I like...but if Her Royal Highness approves...I suppose it may be truth. But I'll tell hime YOU told me so, not him :)

    Katie - You're making me so happy right now! My camera is still the same, the changes were these: 1)playing outside - I can only take a good picture with my cheap camera in natural light. Indoors, I'm awful. And 2) I made that cute little collage on Picnik. Like I told Emily above, it's like photoshop, but free and simple. Try it!

    Corinne - I think we were commenting on each other's blogs ate the same time :) Is there a name for that? Bloggeruption? Commenticity?

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  16. I am ready for spring, too, but I envy your snowless ground. It may be blah and brown, but I would even welcome that break! We haven't seen the ground in something like 70 days. Some of the snow melted in the last couple of days, but more is coming down today. Stupid snow.

    Also, my coworker and I were noticing much fewer problems with dry skin. Unfortunately that's because for some reason our workplace is really, really humid. It's bad, leading to heavy condensation and mold. Gross!

    I guess that means winter should end. Put a halt to dryness and mold!

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  17. I was the same way with Avatar. Thought I wouldn't like it so much, but it turns out my husband my daughter and my sons and I all loved it!

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  18. Okay, let me get this straight. You're complaining about a February where you can see the ground and your children can play outside with jackets and no mittens? Is that right? ;)

    I think I can understand the problem, though. It's just a nasty tease to have spring seemingly just holding out on you.

    Whereas here, it's just not a question. There's snow, it's winter, and spring isn't even worth thinking about yet. (I'd put a smiley face to suggest a jovial tone, but it's not really something I'm super smiley about! heh heh)

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Hmm...And how did that make you FEEL?